


Running on ice

by totilott



Series: A Groovy Kind of Love [5]
Category: DCU (Comics), Justice League International (Comics)
Genre: 1980s, Acknowledging Ted was engaged to be married once, Bisexual Character, Denial, F/M, Inappropriate Erections, M/M, Movie Night, Secret Crush, Slow Burn, Songfic, i never meant inappropriate erections to become A Thing in this series but it is kinda cute, the frees are adorable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2020-03-08 16:57:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18898822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/totilott/pseuds/totilott
Summary: Just a movie night, Ted, Booster and the Frees. Sounds straightforward enough, right?





	Running on ice

_“She’s unavoidable, I’m backed against the wall!”_ Their voices ring out in Ted’s banged up Toyota. _“She gives me feelings that I’ve never felt before!”_

Booster shimmies in his seat, playing air drums.

“Hey Maverick, you’re gonna knock over my water bottle,” Ted exclaims, not quite managing to force away his grin.

“Sorry Iceman,” Booster cheerfully replies, and they’re back to singing along.

“ _She used to look good to me, but now I find her.._.” Ted taps the drum beat on the steering wheel. Then their voices come together once more. “ _Simply irresistible!_ ”

Ted’s cheapo sound system is giving them its all, only whirring and distorting the voices on the tape once in a while. He wonders idly if he should try taking it apart one of these days, see if he can upgrade it himself. Audio would be an exciting new subject to explore, a new avenue for tinkering.

But then again, a worn out cassette player is all they need to get the party started, so why upgrade? At least until they can get their hands on one of those cool CD players.

“ _She’s so fiiiiine there’s no telling where the money went,_ ” they sing along to Robert Palmer in a less than euphonious tones.

It’s a good day.

The sun shining, the roads to the sleepy little town of Bailey surprisingly clear this late in the afternoon, on their way to watch one of the great modern classics. Blue and Gold looking to kick back, hit up some culture.

It started with Booster buying some aviator sunglasses, and incapable of letting a movie reference slide, Ted started calling him Maverick.

Booster has few _massive_ personality flaws, Ted concedes, but not getting those grade-A pop cultural references is probably the biggest. How could he not know about Top Gun? The modern American classic, the movie with it all -- cool dudes, beautiful women, a kickass soundtrack, and lots and lots of exciting jet fighter scenes. The movie was practically brand new, too.

But just old enough that Booster hadn’t been around when it dropped, hadn't seen how aviator sunglasses went from a niche product to the height of fashion overnight. Ted even bought some back then, but on him they just looked oversized and silly. Booster had a face for cool accessories, even if he didn't understand their deep cultural significance.

So that had to be rectified.

The cassette player whirrs for a moment as they pull up to the idyllic little brick house. The kind of house you’d want to raise your 2.4 kids in, who’d play with your golden retriever or border collie or whatever on the spacious lawn. That kind of house.

Ted gets out and slams the door, breathing in the warm May air. Booster joins him, a big bag of chips under his arm.

“Is it me or is it even warmer in this town?” Ted asks as they approach the door.

“Maybe if you’d dressed a little less like an eskimo you wouldn’t fry alive,” Booster grins, motioning to Ted’s dark sweatshirt and jeans.

Ted rings the doorbell. “Hey, I got a cold and the heating in my car’s busted, I didn’t want to get sicker.”

“Iceman, pal, it’s like thirty degrees outside.” Booster spreads his arms to show off his own getup, yellow shorts and a light blue t-shirt.

“Not this morning, it wasn’t,” Ted retorts weakly, sniffling to prove his point.

“Beetle, Booster! Come on in!” Scott beams at them from the doorway.

“Civilian names, Scott!” comes Barda’s voice from somewhere behind him.

“Right, sorry.” Scott smiles at them. Ted lifts a hand, about to say he doesn’t mind, everyone from work always calls him Beetle, in costume or out, but Scott continues gently, “We’re trying to keep a low profile here.”

“Even at home?” Ted asks as they step inside.

“Especially at home,” Scott shrugs good-naturedly.

The Frees’ house, as always, is an immaculate family home, straight out of a catalog. Frilled curtains in every window, a tablecloth on every flat surface. They even use _coasters_ (a fact that was aggressively brought to Ted's attention the last time they'd visited). But Ted has to admit it’s a cosy little place.

“The pizza’s about ready,” Scott beams. “Just make yourself comfortable, Barda’s in the living room.”

“And she’s...” Ted lowers his voice. “ _Okay_ with this?” He knows he’s not Barda’s favorite house guest. Repeat visits has proven beyond a doubt she really doesn't appreciate Ted's sense of humor.

“She was... reluctant at first,” Scott concedes. “But I got her to see the appeal.”

“Appeal?”

They enter the tastefully furnished living room, with the Frees’ TV and brand new VCR set up in front of the sofa. The sofa with the powerful dark-haired woman sitting on the end, the warrior known as Big Barda.

“Hey boys,” she grins, and raises the beer can in her hand in greeting. “Ready for our double date?”

Ted seems to choke on something and coughs abruptly. He can hear Booster titter behind him.

“Barda!” Scott interjects gently. “That was just a joke!”

“I know, darling,” she chuckles. “And this time I got to tell it. The look on your face, Ted!”

Ted clears his throat one more time and wipes his forehead with his sleeve, too warm, too clammy. “And I thought I was the comedian here.”

“Seems you have a worthy replacement, Iceman,” Booster grins and finds a seat on the couch. He nods to Barda, who nods back with a gracious smile.

“Hey, don’t forget the snacks there,” he tells Booster, who hands him the bag. “I’ll just... find something to put this in.” He heads to the kitchen as Barda and Booster strike up a conversation. Booster has that quality, even with a woman like Barda. People just seem to like him, be drawn to him.

He can hear them laughing now. That, at least, seems unusual.

In the kitchen he finds Scott, getting a stack of plates out of the cupboard. The pizza’s in the oven, and the room is stifling hot to Ted. He can feel beads of sweat rolling down his back.

“Hey, Scotty,” Ted mutters as he tosses the bag of chips on the counter. “Did you by any chance get your wife sauced in preparation for our arrival?”

“What?” Scott turns to him with a frown. “Barda? No.”

“I’m just not used to seeing her this... relaxed.” Or in a good mood at all, really.

“No? That’s a shame,” he says matter-of-factly, and returns to gathering plates. “We’ve both been kinda tied up with work lately, you know. Not a lot of time to just...” He pauses, looking down at the glass in his hand. “Do things together.”

“And you want me and Booster cutting into your doing-things-together time?”

“It’s our little experiment,” Scott smiles, and for a moment Ted wonders what on earth he’s signed up for tonight.

“Experiment?” he asks, his mouth dry.

“You know, just a movie night with friends,” Scott says. The egg timer on the counter dings. “Ah, pizza’s ready!”

Ted watches him as he begins coaxing fair-sized pepperoni pizza out of the oven. “I still don’t think I understand.” The heat is radiating into the room, and Ted feels like he’s being cooked alive.

“I mean, it’s just... Look,” Scott places the over tray on top of the stove and pulls his oven mittens off. He turns to Ted and lowers his voice. “Both me and Barda’s in the business. Not to mention our pasts, it’s...” he sighs, searching for the words. “It’s hard to put down sometimes, you know?”

Ted nods slowly.

“We just need a little practice being civilians together, I guess,”

“And you need mine and Booster’s help with that?”

“Sure! I mean, kinda.” Scott turns to the pizza and begins carving it with what looks like a never-before-used pizza cutter. “I mean, you and Booster, you hang out in your spare time all the time. You can just be two regular guys together, you know?”

“Sure,” Ted agrees, though he feels a tiny something inside himself vibrating nervously.

“That’s all we want, just a normal movie night for four normal people.”

“I wouldn’t call Booster _normal_ ," Ted remarks and grabs the plates. "But three out of four ain’t bad.”

Scott laughs and picks up the ceramic platter with the pizza. As they carry their burden to the living room he adds cheerfully, “But yeah, me and Barda did start a little early on the drinks, so you better catch up.”

Booster straightens up a little. “Oh, Beet-- I mean, _Ted_ ’s driving, and I thought I’d abstain, you know, in sympathy.”

“What? No, go ahead,” Ted urges him, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed. Like Booster has to support him somehow? Like they have to do everything the same.

“Well okay then, I’ll have a beer,” Booster shrugs good-naturedly.

Having placed the pizza on the table, Scott turns and starts making back to the kitchen, but Barda stops him.

"Scott, please,” she chides him gently. “You don’t have to do everything, you know. I’ll go.”

“It’s no bother,” he objects, but she’s already on her feet (easily a head and a half taller than Scott and Ted).

“I know,” she says, stopping to plant a quick kiss on his forehead. “But you have to run the VCR anyway, I’m not touching that thing.”

Even with Scott's fabled knack for electronics and Ted's interest in modern tech, it takes about five minutes for them to connect the cables, find the right channel and coax the VHS in without the VCR immediately ejecting it. Once everything's in order, they all find their places on the Frees' soft couch: Scott and Barda on one end, Ted and Booster on the other, and the movie begins.

“This isn’t a war movie, is it?” Barda asks sceptically as the pre-movie disclaimers scroll past.

“No, no, it’s about Navy pilots,” Ted explains. “You haven’t seen it either?”

"None of us have," Scott says. "But I've got to start building my video collection somehow and it seemed a good place as any to start."

“I feel like I’ve practically seen it from the animated way Ted’s explained the plot to me,” Booster grins, beer in hand.

“Sure, I didn’t think we’d have a chance to watch it anytime soon.” Ted helps himself to a slice of pizza. “I should start charging for retelling movie plots to you, you know. Can you believe he’s never seen a single Indiana Jones movie?” he posits to Scott.

“Of course, when Ted acts out Top Gun for me, there’s a lot of whooshing noises,” Booster takes a sip. “I’m hoping for better special effects tonight.”

Ted gently punches Booster on the shoulder, who grins broadly and punches back, which makes Ted duty bound to slap at him again, and they keep going, giggling to the sound of ‘Danger Zone’ from the TV.

“Guys, please,” Scott admonishes gently. “There’s a movie on.”

Ted sinks contentedly back into the sofa, nibbling at the piping hot (but oh so delicious) pizza. He feels happy. Great food, great company, great movie. He hasn’t watched Top Gun since it was in theaters, but vividly remembers the excitement, the awesome jet fighter scenes, the music.

It still weirds him out that when he sat in that movie theatre, nibbling popcorn two (or was it three?) years ago, Booster didn’t exist yet. Or he did, but not _then_ , he already existed in the future and then he came to the _now._

He tries not to think about it too much. J’onn he can handle, J’onn’s simply an alien. Booster’s from a year that hasn’t happened yet, and pondering that gives him much more of a headache.

“Ah, so that’s Maverick,” Barda comments as Tom Cruise’s character gets told off for being a reckless pilot. “That’s why you’ve been calling Booster that. I don’t see the resemblance though.” She takes sip of her beer.

“Of course not,” Booster replies and helps himself to a slice. “I’m way better looking. Don’t you think so, Beetle?”

“Ted,” Scott reminds him.

“ _Ted_ ,” Booster corrects himself and takes a big mouthful. The sound of Booster saying his name feels strange somehow.

“Sure, bud, Tom Cruise wishes he was you,” Ted replies and pats him emphatically on the shoulder. He feels like he's slowly being boiled alive. Damn sweatshirt. Damn cold. He takes a big gulp of his soda.

As they watch Cruise’s character get sent to elite fighter pilot school colloquially known as Top Gun, Ted becomes strangely aware that he’s the last one to have spoken in the neat little living room. Not that it matters, it’s all just easy conversation, but he starts wondering if they’re thinking about how quickly he agreed Booster’s more handsome than Tom Cruise. Wonders if he should have said something else.

What, like he should have passionately defended Tom Cruise’s good looks? It was just a joke, anyway. Suddenly Booster’s silly question seems to have been a conversational trap on the level of the classic “Are you still beating your wife?” No right answer, only wrong ones.

 _Jeez, calm down, Ted,_ he tells himself and takes another long sip of his soda. He’s probably running a light fever or something. Just a little spaced out because of his cold, because of the heat.

“Ah, that’s Iceman!” Booster almost jumps with excitement the moment Val Kilmer shows up on the screen.

As the Top Gun class of ace pilots watch recordings of air combat, one of the men turns to his friend and whispers “This is giving me a hard-on.”

_Huh. Don’t remember that line._

Ted feels a slight discomfort, like watching a sexy scene with your parents in the room. He glances quickly to Booster, suddenly reminded of their little obstacle getting to the press junket last year. The fallout. Max and J’onn giving them more than a few lectures on professional conduct and word choice. Well, it’s obviously just the free and easy way soldiers speak, just how guys talk to each other. Obviously.

Booster’s watching the screen like before, unaffected.

The friend of the pilot who spoke that line leans in in the darkness of the classroom and whispers back, “Don’t tease me.”

_Oh, God._

Ted's certain he’s sweating bullets by now. He’d ask to borrow a T-shirt but he doubts any of Scott’s will fit him. And if he has to borrow clothes from Barda, well, he’d rather not.

 _Just stay the course, Ted,_ he tells himself. The dialogue probably didn’t even register, they were just whispered between tertiary characters.

In the corner of his eye he thinks for a moment he sees a subtle smile on Booster’s face. Like he knows something Ted wishes he didn't.

And now that he’s looking at the scene, isn’t Iceman’s friend sitting very close to him in that classroom, his arm slung over the back of the Iceman’s seat, possessive, intimate? When Iceman meets Maverick’s gaze, doesn’t he hold it a little too long, the smile playing on his lips suggestive and dangerous? Why did he let Booster nickname him Iceman anyway?

“Excuse me,” Ted mutters, already on his feet. “Nature calls.”

He feels clumsy as he shuffles to the hall, and on to the bathroom on the second floor. The Frees’ wooden stairs creak at every step, he's so heavy, so ungraceful. Ted locks the door behind him and leans his hands on the sink, staring at himself in the mirror. His cheeks are flushed and there’s a thin film of perspiration on his forehead. He studies himself for a minute, frowning, and then quickly pulls off his sweatshirt, the air feeling cool against his sweaty torso.

“What’s going on with you tonight?” he mutters at his reflection. “You gonna have some kind of nervous breakdown over an action movie?”

He splashes some cold water under his arms, on his neck, lets the cool water run over his hands, his wrists. Finally he cups his hands under the running water and brings them up to his face, gently dips his face in. He stands like that for a moment, imagining the chill creeping through his head, cooling down his overheated brain. Simple convection. Plain science.

He grabs the towel by the sink and wipes himself, feeling a little better, a little more present. He takes a deep breath and pulls his sweatshirt back on, then faces himself in the mirror again. “It’s just a movie,” he tells himself. “You’re running a fever and it’s just a dumb movie.”

As he returns to the living room, Maverick on the screen has already spotted the girl of his dreams. The notion makes Ted feel a little better somehow. He takes his place between Scott and Booster and grabs another slice.

As Maverick starts serenading the woman in the bar, Booster jumps and almost spills his beer. “Oh, I know this song!” The others look at him, and as if to prove his point Booster starts quietly singing along with Cruise. “ _And there’s no tenderness like before in your fingerti-i-ips..._ ”

“You don’t know Indiana Jones but you know oldies like this?” Scott asks incredulously.

“Booster has a tragic condition which burdens him with the musical preferences of a seventy-year old,” Ted teases.

“Look, I only discovered this song last year,” Booster pouts.

“I think it’s a lovely song,” Barda interjects.

“You do?” Scott asks, turning towards her.

“M-hm,” she smiles and slowly trails a finger over his knee. “Very romantic.”

“It’s mostly sad,” Booster says, his mouth full of pizza. “Like you’re with the love of your life and you realize they’ve stopped loving you, and you want them but they don't want you.”

Ted glances at Scott and Barda, staring lovelorn into each others eyes. “I don’t think they’re listening,” he remarks to Booster, who shrugs and swallows the pizza down with a sip of beer.

“It’s no fair you tease me for enjoying this song anyway,” Booster says, looking at the action on the screen. “When it’s sung by the cool guy in your favorite movie.”

Ted feels flushed again. “Well I wouldn’t say _favorite_ ,” he interjects. “I mean, it’s kinda --”

“Oh, look at that creep!” Barda hollers, loud enough that Ted realizes the Frees probably had a bigger head start on the alcohol than he’d first thought. “She turns him down and he just follows her into the empty bathroom?”

“I mean, he’s the main guy,” Booster protests. “He’s just being tenacious.”

“He’s being a creepy pervert,” Barda replies matter-of-factly. “I would have knocked him out cold.”

“Isn’t it kinda flattering though?” Booster posits, more as an afterthought, and to Ted it seems the temperature of the room drops by several degrees. It isn’t as welcome as he’d thought.

He places a gentle hand on Booster’s shoulder. “Booster, don’t --”

They all look at Barda, tall and terrible at the end of couch, staring at Booster with narrowed eyes for what seems like the world’s longest three seconds. Then she laughs, something akin to what a Mongol king or a Visigoth raider must have laughed, reaches her strong arm over and gives Booster a gentle shove. “You’re such a weirdo, Booster.”

“Thanks,” Booster grins, seemingly unaware of how close he came to total destruction.

They resume watching the movie, the second big jet fighter scene underway. Booster lets out a subdued “Oh yeah!” as Maverick and his wing-man Goose pull off a ballsy aerial maneuver, and even Scott leans forward in his seat, eyes fixed on the screen.

 _Good, this is good._ Ted takes a long sip of soda, feeling more mellow than he has in a while. Just a movie night with colleagues. Friends. He casts a glance at Scott and Barda, thinking about what Scott said earlier. About learning to let go of the job.

He can’t quite understand why they picked him to teach them how.

There are times when Ted changes out of his costume, takes a shower, plops down in front of the TV and still feels like every single muscle in his body is tensed, ready for action. Or he closes his eyes, ready for bed, and every mangled body, every meaningless act of destruction he’s ever witnessed flashes before his eyes. There are nights he can’t sleep at all, opting instead to head down to the workshop, telling himself that improved weaponry and shielding will make up for exhaustion.

At least Barda and Scott both know that life. They can share the burden, talk it out when it gets too heavy for one of them. No need for alibis and lies that compound, one on top of the other. No nights where you just want to scream for all the evil you have to see every day and you can’t, because your partner doesn’t even know you’re a hero. Or trying to be.

Ted frowns, trying to focus on the movie. _Don’t go there,_ he tells himself. _Don’t think about (her) it_. Maverick and Goose on the screen have a heart-to-heart about family, about obligations. If only they’d have a loud action scene again.

For all his posturing to Booster and the others, Ted hit the pause button on his love life the moment he left Chicago, the moment he joined the League. He can’t find the energy to date, to start lying to prospective partners again. Heck, he has practically no social life outside the League, and parts of him is comfortable with that. It’s straightforward.

 _If any relationship with Booster Gold can be straightforward_. Ted tries to suppress a smile, glancing over at his partner in crime. Deep down he knows how lonely he’d be in the League without Booster. He certainly knows how lonely he was in Chicago on his own, even though he had Mel, was going to _marry_ Mel.

 _Stop. Focus on the movie._ Maverick finally succeeding in asking his dream girl out on a date, keeping it secret so they don’t get in trouble.

Melody wanted back, after she cheated on Ted. He was tempted, of course. That life, that Ted Kord, promising inventor, his beautiful scientist wife at his side, that was how it was supposed to be. That was who he _wanted_ to be. Thinking back, he tends to forget how exhausting it was. Not being able to tell her why he could so seldom stay the night, or where the bruises came from, or why he flaked out on her all the time.

 _No wonder she found someone else to give her attention and love_ , he thinks. _No wonder you didn’t measure up._

He pinches his eyes closed for a moment and takes another sip. His brain is working overtime tonight. Like he could teach Scott and Barda how to let go of anything.

But still. Between the two options, between lying all the time and being with people you can be genuine with, he realizes that right now, he prefers this life. Foregoing the sex and romance for a while just to be genuinely himself, being with people who are privy to both sides of his life. Both the Beetle and Ted.

Like tonight.

“... _When dreaming takes you nowhere it’s time to play._..” Kenny Loggins sings emphatically as the camera pans up a sweaty, muscular torso in the sun.

“Oh gosh,” Barda giggles, beer in hand.

The pilots are playing volleyball in the hot San Diego sun, Maverick and Goose playing opposite Iceman and his pal. Shirtless, gleaming with sweat, pumped up muscles moving in slow motion.

“I didn’t know we were watching that kind of movie,” Booster grins and nudges Ted, who shuffles uncomfortably in his seat.

“I don’t remember this scene at all,” Ted replies quickly, feeling his body reaching the boiling point once again.

“Nice that women finally get some eye candy too,” Barda says.

“What do you mean ‘ _finally_ ’,” Scott interjects. “Tom Cruise has been here all the time, hasn’t he?”

“Not with his shirt off, though.”

“His body isn’t _that_ good-looking,” Scott pouts.

“Aw.” Barda reaches a hand out and cups Scott’s chin in it, pulling his face towards hers. “Is my little man jealous?”

“Maybe,” Scott mutters.

Barda leans in and gives him a slow kiss. “You’re right, he isn’t that handsome,” she smiles warmly at him.

“Yeah,” Booster interjects cheerfully. “We’ve already established I’m much better looking.”

Barda roars out laughing and hugs Scott to her side, who chuckles as well.

On the screen Maverick breaks up the game ( _thank God_ ) to head to his date.

“I should get a motorcycle,” Booster mutters as he’s watching Maverick zooming along the streets.

“No way, they’re too dangerous,” Barda replies with concern in her voice.

“You don’t even have a driver’s license,” Ted objects, thankful the conversation has moved on again.

“Well I’d rather have a motorcycle than a car.” Booster's still watching the screen, leaning back in his seat.

“Sure, picking up chicks in gas stations and still wanting me to get you with my car the moment it starts to rain,” Ted says. “Besides, you can already fly everywhere for free. _I_ should get a motorcycle.”

They all look at Ted for a moment, disbelief in their eyes, and they burst out laughing.

“Hey, I can be cool and dangerous too!” Ted objects, which only makes them laugh harder. He gives them his most genuine, wide-eyed look, milking this moment for everything it’s worth, just as he starts giggling as well.

One by one they get ahold of themselves, sinking comfortably back in the sofa, watching the movie as Maverick and his girl have their first spat, trying to balance their professional and personal lives. Ted feels some unwanted memories start to surface again and goes to get another bottle of soda from the fridge.

He stands for a moment in the kitchen, pressing the cold bottle against his cheek. Smiles at the notion of getting a motorcycle. Well, maybe he'd look good in leather anyhow.

When he returns Maverick and his girl are making out in a big way on the screen, and in the sofa he sees Barda playing with Scott’s hair. He takes a seat as the scene fades to a blue-lit bedroom, their bodies silhouetted against the curtain.

“ _Watching every motion in this foolish lover’s game._...” the song in the background goes as Maverick slowly leans in for a kiss, his tongue teasing his lover’s upper lip, their arms embracing.

Ted had a vague memory of a love scene but this kissing is definitely not your tame Hollywood fare. Lips and tongues meet, the sort of naked passion you don’t usually see in a mainstream movie. Skin against skin, bodies rubbing against each other. Ted’s suddenly aware he’s breathing a little deeper than usual, and stops himself.

The two silhouettes gently fall on the bed and resume kissing, lips quivering in anticipation, tongue tips meeting and teasing. Out of the corner of his eye he sees Barda’s hand in Scott’s hair, moving more insistently, trailing down to his neck and up again, gently gripping a fistful of hair. He feels the couch subtly shift as Scott jumps in response.

Silhouetted hands on Maverick’s back, pulling him closer as he slowly thrusts, and Ted realizes for the first time Booster’s arm’s been resting on the back of the sofa, behind him, not touching him but close enough to feel the subtle heat radiating from his skin. How long have they been sitting like that? (Like Iceman and his friend in class).

“ _Take my breath away..._ ” the singer continues, and a part of Ted is screaming at himself to shift in his seat, move away from Booster’s arm, so close it very nearly tickles the short hairs on the back of his neck. But that would prove Ted’s aware of it, _did_ become aware of it only once the sex scene began, and that’s more like an admission than just sitting here, completely still, just watching a movie.

Ted’s already way too hot, feeling like he’s getting hotter still, and yet nothing can compare to the heat radiating from Booster’s naked skin, his strong arm carelessly slung over the backrest. He feels Scott jump again in response to something Barda’s doing with her hand, and an uninvited thought comes to Ted, how the way they’re sitting now, Booster could do the same to him. Trailing gentle fingertips, teasing, pulling his fingers through his hair, from crown to the nape of his neck, gripping a fistful of curls, pulling his head back.

Ted finally squirms away from Booster’s arm (too warm, too close) and crosses his legs as he feels an unwelcome tightness in his jeans.

_No, no, no, no. This isn’t happening._

The scene finally ends and leads into another, and Ted clears his throat as he shifts in his seat once again. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Booster turn to look at him for a moment, but neither god nor man could make him acknowledge that right now. Instead he stares fixedly at the screen, trying to wear his most neutral expression, and prays that his beginning erection will go away.

 _Ted, Ted, Ted, you absolute mental case_ , he tells himself. _You’re not getting a boner from a sex scene in an action movie._

Maybe this dry spell isn’t good for him after all. Apparently it’s made him into a hormonal teenager again, getting hard at the tiniest glimpse of anything sexual. It’s a tasteful love scene, even. Silhouettes and pop music.

He can’t quite follow the movie anymore. There’s another jet fighter scene, loud and exciting, but he can’t focus for his pulse thrumming in his temple.

It’s the fever. He’s disoriented and his mind wandered for a moment, his body is just running too many processes right now and the wrong button got pushed.

He hears Scott gasp gently, and wow, those kids have certainly gotten in the mood. Good for them. He’s not going to turn his head and look at what on earth they’re doing, just letting them have their privacy. Just watching the movie, ignoring the other people sharing the sofa with him.

It’s not like he’s _rock_ hard. It’s what they at school used to call a semi. It’s barely a semi. It’s just some diverted blood, that’s all. Like Booster that one time. That hadn’t been brought on by anything either. It’s just something healthy young bodies do. Or not so healthy in Ted’s case right now, but that's the gist of it.

Just like Booster, yeah. Though he had to deal with it, that time. Probably harder than this, more difficult to hide, and it doesn’t mean anything. Just a natural process that happens completely at random sometimes.

“Uh, Ted. Buddy.”

Ted jumps at Booster’s voice, an ice-cold wash of panic coming over him, that he’s been found out somehow. He puts on his most disinterested face and slowly turns to look at his friend. Behind Booster he can see Scott and Barda kissing, arms around each other. “Yeah, Booster?”

“Maybe we should, ah,” he smiles and lifts his eyebrows meaningfully. “Start heading for home.”

 _Your place or mine_ , shoots to the front of Ted’s brain, but of course that’s just nonsensical, they both live at the Embassy.

“You haven’t been feeling well and all,” Booster continues, nodding at the couple behind him, something almost mirthful in his eyes, but Ted's having a hard time concentrating right now.

“Oh right,” Ted clears his throat, which sounds appropriately phlegmy. “You’re right, I’m pretty sure I’m running a fever, we should probably --”

“Yeah,” Booster agrees and shuffles in his seat to face Scott and Barda, who have gradually extracted themselves from each other.

“Oh too bad, Ted,” Scott offers, a little flushed. “We can watch the rest of the movie next time.”

“Absolutely,” Ted replies quickly, promising himself at that moment he’s never going to watch another minute of Top Gun.

Booster’s already on his feet, shoveling a final slice of pizza down. Ted gets up, hesitantly, and realizes with a flash of gratitude his sweatshirt is long enough to pull down to his crotch. Good choice of attire after all.

“I really hope you’ll feel better soon,” Scott continues, leaning markedly forward in his seat. “Barda, darling, can you see our guests out?”

Ted and Booster’s eyes meet for a moment, and he can tell Booster’s barely containing himself, ready to giggle at any moment.

“This way, guys,” Barda smiles broadly as she stands up and leads the way to the front door. She adds softly, “Seems the universe’s greatest escape artist has met his match.”

“ _Bar_ -da!” Scott’s shocked voice carries through the hall.

She laughs uproariously, and both Ted and Booster can’t contain themselves anymore and hollers with laughter as well. They stand in the doorway, the three of them, as their laughter turns to giggles, and they finally catch their breaths.

“I’m sorry for this,” Barda finally says with a smile. “It’s just been a while since we could --”

“Don’t worry,” Ted offers quickly, not wanting to hear the rest of that sentence. “I really am not feeling too good, you know.” As he says it he can feel droplets of sweat running down his back. He pulls at his sweatshirt.

“Well, thank you so much for tonight.” Barda gives them both a hug one by one, clapping her arms around them so hard Ted feels the air being pushed out of him, as he angles his hips away so she won't get the wrong idea. This really is a new Barda. “This was _surprisingly_ nice,” she grins.

“We’ll do it again soon,” Booster offers, stretching his arms behind him with a yawn.

“Good,” Barda says and claps a hand on Booster’s shoulder. “Booster. You know, Scott’s been talking about how he should apologize to you.”

“Apologize?”

“About giving you a hard time when you came to the League. I’m pretty sure he was manning up to say it tonight.”

“He’s still carrying that around?” Booster frowns. "Jeez, I don't blame anyone for being suspicious at the way I turned up. I mean, even Ted --"

"I'll tell Scott that," Barda smiles gently. "Thank you."

"Well, tell him not to think about it," Booster hugs her again, the easy way he handles people. "He makes a great pizza so consider everything forgiven."

They say their goodbyes once again, and as they head to the car the boys can see Barda quickly lock the door.

“They’ll be going at it like rabbits,” Booster grins as they get into the car.

“Booster!”

“Did you hear Scott trying not to moan?” Booster giggles.

“I don’t think we should talk about it." Ted swivels down his window, hoping for a breeze to cool him down.

“Who do you think takes charge in the bedroom?”

“Barda,” Ted replies like a shot. “Definitely.”

“Absolutely Barda,” Booster laughs. “Hey, let’s get the music going again.”

Ted starts the engine and turns the knob on the cassette player. “... _And he’s watching her with those eyes._..” He relaxes into the music as they exit the driveway onto the street.

“ _And he’s loving her with that body, I just know it_ ," Booster sings along and rolls down his window too. _"And he’s holding her in his arms, late late at night..._ ”

“ _Oh I wish that I had JESSIE'S GI-I-IRL,_ ” they both holler as the car hits a pothole, and the voice on the tape winds down, a sad bellow of a sound. Ted and Booster both look down at the cassette player, frowning. Ted turns the knob, but the bellowing sound continues.

“Well, I guess that’s it for my poor tape player,” Ted sighs. “Go with God,” he mutters and turns it off.

They sit in silence for a while, the only sound the hum of the engine, the dim sound of air rushing past.

“So what’s going on with you?” Booster asks abruptly.

“What?” Ted asks, not taking his eyes off the road.

“I don’t know,” Booster mutters. “You’ve just been kinda silent, not cracking as many jokes as I’m used to.”

Ted feels a flush of warmth come over him again. “I thought you’d be ecstatic,” he smiles, but Booster doesn’t go with it. “Hey, we were watching a movie,” he adds weakly. “Some of us don’t feel the need to talk all the way through it.”

“I’ve watched movies with you before,” Booster says. “You’re not of them.”

“Come on, I got a cold,” Ted objects. “You can’t expect me to be the life of the party when I’m about to keel over, sick and wretched.”

"You don't have a cold, you're just dressed too warm," Booster objects, but with a chuckle in his voice.

"No, because my feet are _ice cold_ ," Ted argues. “A consumptive wreck, delirious with fever...” Ted’s picking up some speed now, wanting to handily move to a different subject.

“You haven’t got a fever, you’re just overdressed,” Booster sighs. “Everyone tonight were wearing T-shirts, and you’re in there prepared to go to Siberia.”

“I do so have a fever.”

“You don’t! Here, let me just--” Like a shot Booster leans over and places his hand on Ted’s forehead, startling Ted so for a moment the car veers to the middle of the road before Ted rights it again.

“Fuck, Booster! Don’t scare me like that!” Ted exclaims, trying to work up some annoyance, some anger, a little focus to be less aware of the soft warm hand gently pressed right below his hairline.

“ _Sorry_ , okay,” Booster replies a little sharply, not moving his hand.

Ted stares unblinking at the road for a moment, slowing his breath.

Booster ruffles Ted’s hair before he removes his hand. “Okay, fine, I yield. You are running a temperature.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying!” Ted exclaims, a little relieved somehow.

“Just barely, though.” Booster sits back in his seat and watches the road. “No need to pretend you’re about breathe your last.”

“Hey, at least it was an excuse to leave before things got X-rated in the Free house.”

“True,” Booster giggles. “If we hadn’t left when we did I think we’d be obliged to start an orgy just to be polite.”

Ted laughs, a little more thinly than he’d like, and clears his throat. “We need some more music,” he says and turns on the radio, hoping that piece of electronics wasn't ruined by the pothole back there. It’s a debate program, coming in clear enough. He turns the dial, quickly moving past more talking, smooth jazz, an interview with a movie director, some twangy country ballad, on and on until he lands on a channel playing something by Toto. It’ll have to do.

They sit without talking, Booster gently bobbing his head to the music.

The music fades, a disc jockey speaks brightly about traffic somewhere far away and leads into the next song, a quiet ballad by the sound of it.

“That was some good pizza, huh?” Ted offers.

“Yeah, Scott should cook for the League once in a while,” Booster agrees, and the matter rests.

“ _What would you think if I told you,"_ a female voice croons _"I always wanted to hold you..._ ” 

“Was that ham?” Ted asks, feeling a drop of sweat run down his nose.

“... _I don’t know what we’re afraid of, nothing would change if we made love..._ ”

“No, pepperoni,” Booster replies. “Ted, how out of it are you?”

“. _..So I’ll be your friend, and I’ll be your lover..._ ”

“Sorry I don’t have a photographic memory of meats I’ve eaten.” Ted tightens his grip on the wheel.

“... _.Coz I know in our hearts we agree, we don’t have to be one or the other._..”

“Anyway, you can go back to calling me Beetle now,” Ted adds quickly.

“.. _.We can’t stop what’s inside us, our love for each other will guide us..._ ”

“Is it weird hearing me call you Ted?” Booster grins.

“I don’t know, I --”

“. _..I’ve been through you and you’ve been through me.._.”

“I’m not used to it.” Ted wipes his forehead, feels his fingers get slick with sweat.

“. _..Sometimes a friend is the hardest to see._..”

“Oh _Ted_ ,” Booster proclaims dramatically, like a Shakespearian actor. “Teddy. Little Ted,” he teases. “Sweet... uh, Edward.”

Ted giggles sharply, feeling a little restless, a little light-headed. “You think my name’s _Edward?_ ”

“It isn’t Edward?” Booster frowns. “I guess I just assumed -- did your parents really name you Ted?”

“No, they didn’t.” Ted drums his fingers on the wheel.

“So what’s your name?” Booster asks, studying him.

“.. _.So I’ll be your friend and I’ll be your lover._..”

“It’s not --” Ted pulls his fingers through his hair, not taking his eyes off the road. “Other names are shortened as Ted, you know.”

“ _Edmund?_ ” Booster says, then gets huffy when Ted shakes his head. “Just tell me your name.”

“It’s not important.”

“.. _.We don’t have to be one or the other._...”

“You can’t be serious,” Booster tilts his head back. “Just tell me your goddamned name!”

“This is really getting to you, huh?” Ted grins, a little wildly.

“If you don’t tell me I swear I’m gonna, I’m gonna,” Booster scrunches his nose in thought. “I’m gonna refer to you as Teddy bear every day of your life.”

Ted guffaws.

“At work, at home, on missions. People are gonna think your codename is Teddy bear.”

Ted taps the steering wheel as he contemplates the threat. “Okay, but -- listen --”

Booster leans towards him, and for a moment Ted wonders if he's going to touch him again.

“I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you as my dear friend who will not use it against me,” Ted casts a quick glance towards Booster. “You’ll know and you’re not going to tell the others or tease me for it.”

“Not tease you for it in other people’s presence,” Booster specifies.

Ted makes a face. “Okay, fine.” He turns off the radio. “My name...” He pauses for effect. “Is Theodore Stephen Kord.”

Booster cackles and claps his hands together, much like Ted had anticipated. Ted sighs and resolutely nods his head. _Here we go._

Booster continues giggling and flops limply in his seat. “I mean --” he begins, out of breath.

“I know,” Ted offers.

Booster wipes a tear. “It’s better than I had ever imagined,” he sighs contentedly. “Like, I’m from the future, Beetle. I’ve heard countless names from two different centuries, and _never_ have I _ever_ \--”

Ted can’t help but giggle as well. “I _know!_ ”

“-- met _anyone_ who looked less like a Stephen than you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Would you believe all of this was written solely because I wanted (nay, NEEDED) to write a scene about sitting in the car self-consciously listening to 'Friends and lovers'?
> 
> And a dive behind the curtain: I can't effin' STAND Top Gun. I don't know why I felt the movie date HAD to be that one but I forced myself to rewatch it and I liked it even less this time. But it is a good movie in the sense that it's both a very straight movie and a very gay one, depending on who's watching it. 
> 
> **[Songs:](https://open.spotify.com/user/tilly_stratford/playlist/4SqomvmhyncWPEAobYUZ88?si=DNXWufsLSs29KqRywW2U9A)**  
>  Simply Irresistible - Robert Palmer  
> Danger Zone - Kenny Loggins  
> You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' - The Righteous Brothers  
> Playing With the Boys - Kenny Loggins  
> Take My Breath Away - Berlin  
> Jessie's Girl - Rick Springfield  
> Friends and Lovers - Carl Anderson & Gloria Loring  
> Running on Ice - Billy Joel


End file.
